Keep Garifuna heritage alive at home – Education Minister

Education Minister, Curtis King has pledged to continue the integration of Garifuna heritage into the curriculum of schools in St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG).

Addressing delegates at the 11th International Garifuna Conference which was held at The UWI Open Campus in Kingstown and streamed across the Diaspora, Minister King spoke to the need for transfer of knowledge from Garifuna people living abroad and students here.

“Our ancestors who once inhabited this wonderful island faced adversity with unwavering courage. They navigated the tumultuous seas, preserving their language, dance, music, and spiritual practices,” he stressed.

“Let us educate and empower our people, especially those living in Yurumei or St Vincent and the Grenadines. As Minister of Education, I pledge to continue the integration of Garifuna history and culture into our national curriculum. Our youth deserve to know their legacy, to celebrate Chief Chatoyer’s heroism.”

The Minister also highlighted the need to intensify the call for reparations recognizing that “justice delayed is justice denied”.

“Our pursuit of reparations is not merely about financial compensation, it is about restoring dignity, acknowledging historical wrongs and empowering future generations. We seek justice for African enslavement, native genocide against out Kalinago and Garifuna people, the dispossession of their lands and the suppression of our cultural practices.”

President of the Garifuna Heritage Foundation (GHF), David ‘Darkie’ Williams in his remarks urged delegates to keep reparations advocacy at the forefront of their minds and the need to also have further provisions within the plan for indigenous peoples.

He pointed to the CARICOM Ten Point Plan for Reparatory Justice which outlines demands made by Caribbean nations for compensation by European countries.

“We know there is the CRC (Caribbean Reparations Committee) and the ten point plan, but we do not think that there is enough in that ten point plan about indigenous people and their rights. So in welcoming this conference and to the deliberations over the next two days, we hope that the presentations will throw out excellent suggestions that our work will be [used] to input into that ten-point plan and throw out ideas in advancing our own work.”

The conference also featured presentations from academics and activists on the case for Baliceaux to be designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the struggles of Garifuna people in SVG as well as ancestral rights of Garifuna people.